Federal Government Aids Arizona Game And Fish In Fight Against Invasive Mussels

A Bureau of Reclamation biologist collects quagga mussel and water quality samples for research of quagga mussel habitat suitability.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is getting help in its fight against an invasive water pest.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has allocated over $4 million to support work by western states to combat the spread of quagga and zebra mussels in already infested bodies of water.

Erin Raney is AZGFD's aquatic invasive species coordinator. She said the mussels' biggest threat is to water infrastructure.

"It can impede and stop the flow of water," Raney said, "and then it costs a lot of money and manpower to get into those systems and to keep those clean and so that the water keeps flowing through those systems.”

Many watersheds in Arizona and the west do not have these invasive mussels, but Raney said the money will help fund efforts to keep mussels away.